The Galaxy S9 and S9+ to launch at MWC 2018 in February. (Image credit: Reuters).

Samsung will launch its Galaxy S9 lineup at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in late February, according to a report from ZDNet. The information comes directly from DJ Koh, who heads Samsung’s mobility division. While Koh didn’t exactly stated the phones would be showcased at MWC 2018, he said they would be unveiled at the trade show in February. As far as we know, Mobile World Congress is the only major trade show scheduled to happen in the month of February. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ failed to make their debut during this year’s CES in Las Vegas, and now rumours pointing a global launch is being planned during the MWC 2018 in late February.

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Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ were launched on March 29 in New York last year, while sales started in mid-April. But this time the company will unveil the flagship devices a month earlier and sales will likely to start in March itself. It appears that Samsung might be in rush to bring the devices to the market at the earliest to compete with the LG G7, which is believed to launch in March this year and is likely to go on sale in April.

Both the Galaxy S9 and S9+ have been leaked on a number of occasions over the past few months, hinting at an imminent launch of the flagship devices in the market. A series of leaked images give us a look at the display panels for the Galaxy S9 and S9+. They will feature smaller bezels but the aspect ratio as the Galaxy S8. Rumours suggest the standard Galaxy S9 will sport a 5.8-inch display and the Galaxy S9+ will have a 6.2-inch screen. These are the same display sizes as the Galaxy S8 and S8+. However, the fingerprint scanner could be placed below the camera module on the back for a more natural position.

Performance is going to be the top-notch. The phones will be powered by either a Snapdragon 845 mobile processor or Exynos 9810 – depending upon the market where users live. Like last year’s Snapdragon 835, it is believed that Samsung will have first dibs on the entire first production of the Snapdragon 845 for its Galaxy S9 lineup. The larger variant might have 6GB RAM instead of 4GB RAM on the standard model. It’s being speculated that the Galaxy S9+ may have a 512GB storage. A few weeks ago the South Korean major announced it’s ready to manufacture 512GB storage modules for smartphones.

Samsung might also include bigger batteries in the Galaxy S9 lineup, although this is a speculation at the moment. The Galaxy S8 is likely to get a single camera lens on the back, as the dual-camera setup is currently reserved for the Galaxy S9+.

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The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are expected to cost upwards of $800 (or approx Rs 50,952). That would put the two phones in the direct competition with Apple’s iPhone X, which has been well received in the market. Samsung’s new flagships will also face competition from Huawei’s upcoming P-series smartphones, likely to debut at MWC in February.